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Developmental Extraction and the Global Energy Transition: Lessons from South America’s Lithium Triangle

Lucas González et al.

Journal of Globalization and Development2025https://doi.org/10.1515/jgd-2024-0093article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.37

Abstract

Has the global energy transition opened new opportunities for natural resource extraction to foster development? To address this question we propose the concept “developmental extraction” (DE), an intermediate option between neoliberal and anti-extraction. For proponents of DE, mining can be a development-enhancing activity that triggers virtuous economic linkages. Focusing on South America’s Lithium Triangle countries (Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile), we find that the results of DE are mixed, with modest advances in fostering developmental linkages at the local level coupled with uneven outcomes at translocal scales. To explain the contrasting outcomes of DE projects, we offer a multilevel framework that highlights political and territorial challenges of forging developmental linkages. The fortunes of DE depend on the distribution of bargaining power among states, mining companies, and communities and, in turn, on the results of local and translocal negotiations over the terms of extraction.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/jgd-2024-0093

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@article{lucas2025,
  title        = {{Developmental Extraction and the Global Energy Transition: Lessons from South America’s Lithium Triangle}},
  author       = {Lucas González et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Globalization and Development},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/jgd-2024-0093},
}

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.